Anchora is the 8th mandatory story mission of Episode 4 and takes place immediately after Palace of Rowgar.
Mission Summary[]
The search for Axon continues, as the AMC Squad wanders into a town above the skies.
Gameplay[]
Anchora[]
Go through the tunnels, up the stairs, Then head right. Follow the path until you reach to the town. Talk to the old lady, then go around the wall, and enter the town hall (the big building behind her). Talk to the Matriarch about going to the temple. However, she declines it at first. So go outside and enter the tavern to the right. Talk to the bartender. She mentions someone known as Pat got arrested for drunken misconduct, screaming about a conspiracy against the Matriarch. When you go back and talk to the Matriarch about it, she tells you to talk to the blacksmith about it. To find him, turn right of the path, then go down the stairs to the left. The blacksmith will be in the building to the left. Talking to him, then head down the stairs to the left, and follow the path. You'll find a note on the floor that says "Deal with Pat". Go outside, and head left. Go upstairs to the left, to the market square. Here, talk to the redhead saleswoman. She'll tell you to go upstairs where the forest is, and enter the guard tower to the left. Inside, you'll find a dead town guard, and a note that says "They look like us I saw too much Tell the Matr...". If you play as Rusty, you can also talk to guard's ghost, he will reveal to you what's happened.
With all these clues, talk to the Matriarch about the plot. Now you can enter the prison to the left with the correct password. Enter inside the building, and make your way to the basement. The guards here are certainly not happy to see you so you'll have to dispose of them. After they're all killed, talk to Pat who is tied to the chair. She tells you about what happened. She then tells you about the butcher's shop in the alley. The bartender from earlier has the key to get in. So go talk to her, and she'll give you the key. Go into the alley, and use the key to enter the butcher's shop. Look for a a bloody hand print on the wall. Interacting with it will open a passageway. At the end is a door that is locked, but can be opened with a kick. Go inside, deal with more conspirator guards, and talk to the guy in the corner. After talking to him, head back outside. Surprise! The town is already under attack by the conspirators! Quickly run back to the town hall, and deal with all the bad guys there. After the battle is over, talk to the Matriarch, and she'll finally let you go inside the temple. After an airship ride to the other floating island, move on to the temple. The front door is locked, so you'll have to enter from the back.
Temple Underbelly[]
Listen to a few revelations from Naaldir, then go left and head down the ladder. Interact with the hidden switch to the left, and the wall will move back, opening a passageway. Blow up the barrels, and go through the created hole in the wall. Head down the stairs, and open the door to the right to get the silver key. Go up the stairs, and use the silver key to open the bars. Go down the lift to the right and pick up a brick of C-4 and some other supplies. Go back to the stairs, and go down them. Then take the elevator down to the large blue room. Go to the bars, then and turn right. Place the C-4, then go into the newly created hole. Then proceed down the hallway, and jump into the hole. In the caves, follow the path forwards. Eventually you'll find a water stream. Follow the stream, until you drop down into a cave area. Jump across some rocky pillars, and continue on the path. Enter the room with pillars to pick up another silver key. Watch out for the Lost spirits. Climb onto the rocky walls, and go through the window. Use the silver key on the door. Head down the ramp, and enter the door to the right.
Now some platforming puzzles. The first one is easy, just jump onto the dark platform to lower the bright platform, then jump on it again to raise it. Get onto the bright platform while it's raising, and enter the next puzzle. Jump onto the dark platform to lower the closest bright platform. Then jump on the dark platform again, and jump onto the rising bright platform. Press the switch to raise the furthest bright platform, then jump across to enter the next puzzle. Jump onto the dark platform to move the two closest bright platforms. Go onto the raising platform closest to the exit door, and press the switch to lower it. Then jump onto the dark platform again, and jump onto the other closest platform. Press the switch to lower the furthest bright platform, then press again to raise it. Quickly get onto the raising platform, jump onto the ledge, press the switch, and quickly make your way to the other side through the door before it closes. Now onto the final puzzle. Jump onto the dark platform to the right, and quickly jump onto the rising bright platform. Then press the switch to lower the stairs of platform across the room. Jump onto the dark platform again to raise the bright platform in the middle. Then go to the stairs platform, and press the switch to raise them. Press the next switch to lower the bright platform closest to the door. However, this will also lower the stairs platforms. So press the other switch to raise them again, then jump onto the middle platform, then the the platform closest to the door, then go through the door. Finally, we're done with the platforming puzzles.
Next up, you need to bring three items and place them near the silver chalice on the pedestal. These three items are blood, molten rocks, and a tree root. The blood vial can be found on a stand to the left near the corpse. The tree root can be found near a fireplace, also to the left. Lastly, the molten rocks vial can be found in the caves to the right. Once all three items are placed in the center, you'll end up in the area with multicolored fires. To get through this puzzle, you'll need to listen to the wind. If you hear it, you're going in the right direction. Although if you want more of a visual cue – you'll start off with the green fire. Look for the blue fire, then purple, then orange, then white. You will hear a noise next to the fire. Jump into the white fire to proceed to the next level.
Chill in the air[]
Enter the temple behind you, then face a wave of enemies. After dealing with all of them, go up the stairs, and cross the bridge. Enter the building, head right, down the stairs, and enter a yard. Press the switch at the end to light the blue fire, and then go back to the entrance. Go the other way this time. Down the hall, at the end of the bridge, there is a door that's closed and won't open until you pass the trials, and lit up two more fire pits. So go down the ramps, and from here, you can go in two different directions. You can go through these in either order though.
- Orange fire – Go through the door, then enter the caves and head left. Then enter the hallway to the right. Enter the cage area, then press the switch to face a group of demons. After dealing with them, go into the newly opened passageway, and now the orange fire pit is active.
- Green fire – Go underneath the bridge, and through the valley. Then go up the ramp, then enter the building. Go into the hallway, then up the ramp. Jump onto the wooden planks, and into the hallway. At the balcony, jump down to get the silver key. Then go into the green room, use the silver key, open the bars, then press the switch. The bars that was near the silver key is now open. Now go down the ramp, then you'll be at the door with the green fire pit now active.
Once all fire pits are active, go through the now opened door. Then go down the lift. In the caves, jump onto some of the rocks to the right. Follow the rocks to be on the other side of the bridge. Enter the purple room, and face the Troll and other enemies. After dealing with him, go behind the throne and press the switch. This will lower the throne to a hidden passageway. Pick up the scroll, and finally AMC squad will fly to some caves in the sky.
Secrets[]
There are a total of 10 secrets in this mission.
Anchora[]
- Before going up to entering the town, go to the fields to the left to where the waterfall is. You'll find a gold amulet near it.
- At the entrance head left, across the lake, and behind the prison. Continue on until you find some treasures. However, it is guarded by a Barghest.
- When going up the ramp, turn right, then jump onto the ledge, then on the rocks. Then leap across to the building where the gold amulet is. Finally, jump down and gather some gold.
- From secret #3, go to the roofs to the right. You'll find an area with a slot 4 weapon.
- Same as secret #3, but instead of jumping across, go onto the rock where the H-Item is. Afterwards, leap across onto the roof where you see slot 5 ammo. Collect them for the secret.
- In the market square, jump onto the roof, then onto the wall, and jump up onto the ledge where the slot 5 weapon is. Now enter the door where you'll find some treasure.
Temple Underbelly[]
- In the hallway just after the stairs, the second to last flag on the left hides some secret body armour.
- Just after the fire pit through the streams, there's a bit of rocks you can climb to the left. Climb it to find a gold amulet.
- Unmarked: In the cave with the silver key and door there are claw marks on the wall that Zaxtor or Kagura can climb. At the top is a magic upgrade orb and a platinum amulet.
Chill in the air[]
- After the first battle, look in one of the rooms where the Barghests came from. In the room behind a pillar is a hidden switch (clue is the gold amulet inside the room). Press it to open a hidden door near the stairs. It is timed, so run here quickly. Then you'll be on the upper floor, which contains a First-aid kit, and some armour.
- After pressing the switch in the yard, go into the hallway to the left. Take the elevator up, then jump onto the ledge. Continue on until you find a Stygian warcannon and Dark Matter XM8 for James.
Weapons & Artifacts[]
- Dark Matter XM8 (Weapon, James Stanfield): Located in secret #2 in Chill in the air.
Evidence/Lore[]
- Dead Guard Note: in the guard tower in the forest not far away from the market square in Anchora.
- Conspirator Note: lying on the floor near the walkway not far away from the makeshift altar in Anchora.
- Scroll with instructions on how to enter the Hall of Heroes: lying on the desk to the left from the pedestal, after the platforming puzzles area in Temple Underbelly.
- Stone tablet describing the Hall of Heroes: behind the pedestal and the miniature Hall of Heroes, in the same area.
Other Items of interest[]
- The blacksmith's cooling trough in Anchora connects to a pond outside of town, in the underwater tunnel there is a magic upgrade orb.
- There is a spirit Rusty can talk to for more backstory, located in the secret #2 of Anchora.
- There is a Time Portal inside city hall. Inside the portal James can find a platinum amulet and another magic orb, as well as some dirty little secret.
Trivia[]
- On Anchora, every character gives a different wrong password to a prison guard, some of them are references to Deus Ex, Marx brothers, Die Hard, and other sources.